Festival Napa Valley returned to California wine country this summer with 63 events from July 3 to 21, showcasing classical music, opera, jazz and dance across main and satellite stages. With a focus on acoustical clarity and subtle amplification, Meyer Sound and Sound Image, a Clair Global brand, provided audio solutions to support the festival’s wide range of performances.

At the heart of the event was the main stage at Charles Krug Winery, where front-of-house engineer Brad Madix led system deployment using Meyer Sound’s LEOPARD compact linear line array loudspeakers and 2100-LFC low-frequency control elements in a cardioid configuration. ULTRA-X20 loudspeakers were used for front fill and out fill.

“We’re outdoors, in a flat field, with no reverberant space like you’d have in a concert hall,” Madix said. “We’re not trying to be loud here; we just need to project sound far enough for the back lawn while keeping things sounding natural for everyone in the seated area. The Meyer Sound system let us do exactly that. The result is even, high-fidelity coverage that feels true to the performance, no matter where you’re sitting.”

The challenge, Madix noted, was in achieving clarity while mixing at low volumes and using many open condenser microphones. “It’s a sensitive environment, and this system lets us be precise without being invasive,” he said.

Sienna Peck, executive producer of the festival and a classically trained violinist, collaborated with Meyer Sound and Sound Image to reimagine the onstage monitoring experience.

“I came to Festival Napa Valley as a player first, and when we moved from an acoustically treated hall to an outdoor stage, it completely changed the playing experience,” Peck said. “This year we moved away from traditional wedges and adopted a distributed monitoring approach with ULTRA-X20s and ULTRA-X23s. The goal was to give musicians the feeling of being in a hall again — to help them trust their instincts and just make music.”

According to Peck, the new monitoring design created a more cohesive experience on stage. “The musicians are so happy,” she said. “We’re getting compliments from both the stage and the audience about the clarity and fidelity of the sound.”

This level of audio precision supported a range of performances, including Donizetti’s “La Fille du Regiment” presented by France’s Versailles Royal Opera, the Pacific Symphony with pianist Tianxu An, a film series honoring Ennio Morricone and a screening of Disney’s “Fantasia” with live orchestra.

“We can have up to 100 musicians on stage some nights, and then pivot to a film score performance or ballet,” Peck said. “We need flexibility, fidelity, and consistency across genres and formats, and Meyer Sound delivers that.”

The festival’s signature event, the Arts for All Gala at Nickel & Nickel Winery, featured Jon Batiste and a system built around ULTRA-X80 point source loudspeakers and 2100-LFC elements in cardioid configuration. ULTRA-X40s were used for outfill, front-center down fill and side fills, with UPJ-1P loudspeakers rounding out the design.

“His synth player hit some deep lows during soundcheck, and the whole tent just started vibrating,” Peck said. “It was one of those unforgettable live moments that reminded everyone what great sound can do.”